Loud cicadas steer clear of Houston

KRISTIN FINAN, Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle |
July 1, 2004

Although Houston is home to a bevy of annoyances including fire ants and cockroaches the size of small children, this summer the rotten-shelled, ear-splittingly noisy 17-year cicada will not be among them.

"They don't like Texas for some reason," said Mike Merchant, a professor and entomologist with Texas A&M University.

In recent months, a particular brood of the 17-year cicada — a sap-sucking insect with big shiny wings — has received much media attention because billions have descended upon more than a dozen Eastern states. After spending 17 years feeding on tree roots, the group has emerged to mate and quickly die, leaving behind only stinking shells and tiny eggs that will hatch and feed for another 17 years before the cycle begins again.

Merchant said there are other broods of 17-year cicadas — also called periodic cicadas because they stay underground for an extended length of time — that are on a different cycle and will emerge before 2021. He said brood X has received attention because it is the most massive brood in recent history.

"It's being better reported this time than ever," said John Jackman, a professor and extension entomologist at Texas A&M University.

But for reasons likely related to climate, Merchant said, the 17-year cicadas just don't like Texas.

"They don't bless us with their presence, which is kind of sad for an entomologist," Merchant said, adding that the closest the brood might get is Oklahoma. "It's kind of exciting when you have a phenomenon like that and you get to observe it. We miss out on the fun."

So what about that annoying buzz and the creepy brown shells you're starting to see everywhere?

Well, Jackman said, Texas has its own 40 or so native species of cicadas, about a half-dozen of which emerge each summer in the Houston area.

He said this group of native, annual cicadas are called dog-day cicadas because they emerge in the dog days of summer and when Sirius, the Dog Star, is in the sky.

Though they differ according to species, dog-day cicadas are typically green or brown with black eyes and are about 2 1/2 inches long. The 17-year cicada is black with reddish-orange eyes and slightly smaller.

And although 17-year cicadas and dog-day cicadas deposit eggs the same way — laying them in tiny slits they cut in twigs on a tree — the sheer numbers of the 17-year cicadas cause much more damage.

"If you've got hundreds of cicadas, the tips of the branches will turn brown and die," Merchant said. "We don't see that much damage in our area."

Additionally, whereas Northeasterners might see thousands of cicadas within in a single tree, dog-day cicadas are much fewer.

Still, our cicadas are not without faults. Because they live longer than the 17-year variety, which are already dying off up North, we will continue to be serenaded by their chipper mating calls through early September.

"We get to listen to the cicadas here," Merchant said. "But it's not nearly as annoying as it would be if you were in the midst of a massive outbreak."

And despite any minor tree damage and buzzing annoyances, Jackman said, cicadas play an important role in the food chain, serving as meals for several types of birds.

He suggested that people who find themselves annoyed by the cicadas simply grab some ear plugs and muddle through.

"It would take a major communitywide spray program to get rid of them, and I don't think you want to do that," Jackman said. "The best thing is to wait it out. Enjoy them while you can."